Keenan with 50 cents on Chelsey Handler (Lately)
This week I was introduced to the youTube celebrity of one 15 year old Keenan Cahill who found fame on youTube recently, mimicking songs and raps from his bedroom. I thought the first video I was introduced to was funny, especially because his facial expressions were new to me. Later I learned that Keenan suffers from a rare disease that affects his growth.
Yet after watching 3 or 4 videos however I quickly got bored and when one evening I saw him on Chelsey Lately (Handler) courtesy of E-online, I got to thinking how little it takes these days to turn the tables on celebrities. This week Keenan was a guest of Chelsea Handler, on the “Chelsea Lately Show”, where he did a skit with 50 Cent. Keenan lip-synched “Down On Me” with 50 Cent joining in. This video already as over 4 million viewers although it has only been online for three days. Now that is what I call power.
Why? Well I don’t think Keenan Cahill will have the talent to make a lasting career out of his ability to lipsync (rather sloppily) popular songs in front of a home camera, but I do think that artists and celebrities like Chelsey Handler and 50 Cents, who appears on one of Keenan’s video performances, will quickly grab the spotlight offered by YouTube and the millions of hits these novelty acts generate. Just imagine doing something nutty or interesting on youTube and glorified celebrities will knock on your door offering their “services” in return for massive exposure…. chew on that one Andy Warhol!
In warped essence it is the previously unknown ‘talent’ assisting the established celebrity getting exposed to an even wider audience. Sixties artist Andy Warhol predicted 15 minutes of fame for everyone, but his experience only covered the early 1980 stages of the MTV years. At best he could only vaguely have imagined the exposure power of the Internet, making the world accessible to anyone with a recording device and internet access; once a production is uploaded it may stay on the internet for longer than the 741 weeks (14 years) Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon remained on Billboard 200. Technically it could be that Keenan Cahill will entertain an annually growing global audience 20 or 30 years from now via his YouTube channel.
He should actually try to approach brand advertisers to pay him based on the number of visitors to his videos and if he does it now, he actually may make some money before he becomes “an old shoe”.
As the internet will divert more and more time away from traditional media, the freely available global entertainment offerings on a large number of video channels, will ultimately make the current question of copyrights academical. The signs are on the wall and all around us. Entertainment in all forms is turning mobile. Bedrooms are getting used to the exposure of flatscreen TV and small screen handheld mobiles, all in use at the same time, both for entertainment, communication exchange and business information.
Personally I think this guy doing a similar thing on the classic Gypsy Kings song “Bamboleo” is very entertaining and maybe the next “new” sensation. Let me know what you think. I got this emailed from Europe earlier n the week.
